------ # Understanding Command and Control **Written By:** - David S. Alberts **See:** Alberts_UC2.pdf --------- ## Acknowledgements We would like to thank the many individuals and organisations who supported and assisted in the writing of this book. Their valuable ideas, comments, and contributions enriched our own thoughts and arguments. Many of the ideas presented here were the subject of an intense 3-year international research collaboration conducted under a charter from NATO’s Research and Technology Organisation (Studies, Analysis, and Simulation Panel Working Group SAS-050),1 which produced a comprehensive C2 Conceptual Reference Model. We benefited greatly from participating in that activity. We were also fortunate to have been able to draw upon the insights and experiences of many colleagues. We would like to thank five individuals in particular for reviewing the manuscript for this book and providing us with thoughtful and detailed peer reviews. These individuals are Graham Mathieson, Professor James Moffat, Dr. David Noble, Dr. David Signori, and Dr. Ed Smith. The willingness of these senior professionals to take the time necessary to offer constructive criticisms is greatly appreciated. In addition, the members of the Information Age Metrics Working Group (IAMWG), senior personnel who assemble monthly to look at important issues, gave us rich feedback on the early draft material and participated in collegial discussions of key topics covered in the book. Regular members of the group include Dr. Ed Smith, John Poirier, Dennis Popiela, Dr. Mike Bell, Mark Sinclair, Dr. Mark Mandeles, Julia Loughran, Kirsch Jones, Eugene Visco, Dr. Larry Wiener, Manual Miranda, Pat Curry, Donald Owen, Mitzi Wertheim, RADM Evelyn Fields (ret.), and Dr. Paul Hiniker. We were also very ably supported by Joseph Lewis, who provided the technical edit, created the graphics and cover artwork, and did the key layout work. In those processes, he made valuable suggestions that helped us make the text clearer and better organised. Margita Rushing managed the publication process with her usual dedication and efficiency. ## Preface Thomas Kuhn observed that progress in science is not linear but that it exhibits periods “of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions.”2 These revolutions are what he called paradigm shifts. The world of Command and Control is in the midst of a paradigm shift, a change in the way we think about the subject. After years of trying in vain to make what historically has become known as Command and Control work in an era of complex coalition civil-military operations, there is an increasing willingness to rethink the subject. At the same time, Information Age concepts and technologies offer opportunities to do things we could never do before. The “stars are aligning,” matching our need to change with the means to change. Therefore, it is time to move on. It is time to recognise that, if we are to be successful in meeting the 21st century challenges that we face, there will be major discontinuities between the Command and Control concepts and practices being taught and practiced today and those of tomorrow. Understanding Command and Control is the first in a new series of CCRP Publications that will explore the future of Command and Control. A major discontinuity that will need to be addressed will be the definition of the words themselves. This is because the way that these words have been defined drastically limits the available solution space and points us in the wrong direction. This creates major problems for both authors and readers. It makes it very difficult to communicate effectively in a medium that is half duplex, where there is no ability for the authors and the readers to interact in real time; for readers to express their questions and concerns and for the authors to clarify and explain. Recognising this, there was and continues to be a great deal of discussion about what to call this first book in the series and the functions it discusses. We chose to continue to use the term Command and Control despite its obvious problems because we wanted to find the appropriate audience, those who are interested in Command and Control, even if what they mean by these terms is very different from how we believe we should be thinking about the subject. This book begins at the beginning: focusing on the problem(s) Command and Control was designed (and has evolved) to solve. It is only by changing the focus from what Command and Control is to why Command and Control is that we will place ourselves in a position to move on. Various CCRP Publications have foreshadowed this need to break with tradition. Coalition Command and Control (Mauer, 1994) raised fundamental questions about how to re-interpret Command and Control in the context of a coalition. Command Arrangements for Peace Operations (Alberts and Hayes, 1995) suggested some answers and raised some additional questions. Coping with the Bounds (Czerwinski, 1998) addressed the challenges associated with complexity. Network Centric Warfare (Alberts, Garstka, and Stein, 1999), by focusing on shared awareness and self-synchronisation, set the stage for Power to the Edge: Command and Control in the Information Age (Alberts and Hayes, 2003). Each of these publications has, in its own way, contributed to the ongoing exploration of ways to improve Command and Control. However, virtually all of this exploration has occurred in close proximity to the status quo. Although transformation, which is inarguably about disruptive innovation, is a major policy objective of not only the DoD, but militaries throughout the world, these commitments to transformation have yet to shift the focus of Command and Control analysis and experimentation to the other side of the discontinuity. This series is meant to stimulate and contribute to the exploration of the other side. David S. Alberts; Washington, DC January 2006. ## Chapter 1: Introduction Understanding Command and Control (C2) is no longer an option; it is a requirement. This introductory chapter will explain why, if we want to make significant progress on Defence transformation or succeed in 21st century operations, we need to understand Command and Control thoroughly. This book is intended to provide a sound foundation for efforts to better understand Command and Control. ### Importance of Understanding C2 The mission challenges of the 21st century have increased significantly. Fortunately, new concepts of operations and approaches to Command and Control are able to provide significantly increased capabilities to deal with these challenges. Today’s missions differ from traditional military missions, not just at the margins, but qualitatively. Today’s missions are simultaneously more complex and more dynamic, requiring the collective capabilities and efforts of many organisations in order to succeed. This requirement for assembling a diverse set of capabilities and organisations into an effective coalition is accompanied by shrinking windows of response opportunity. Traditional approaches to Command and Control are not up to the challenge. Simply stated, they lack the agility required in the 21st century. Fortunately, advances in information technologies have created a new space within which individuals and organisations can operate. Those individuals and organisations that have learned to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by operating in this new space have realised a significant competitive advantage over those that have ignored these opportunities. The Department of Defence (DoD) has recognised that these opportunities exist and is committed to an Information Age transformation. This transformation has two major axes: one focused on understanding 21st century mission challenges and one focused on Network Centric Operations (NCO) (and DoD business processes). The network-centric axis of transformation is anchored by the tenets of Network Centric Warfare (NCW) and Power to the Edge principles. At the risk of oversimplification, NCW is a two-step process: first, achieving shared awareness, and second, leveraging shared awareness to achieve a greater degree of self-synchronisation, leading to dramatic increases in both agility and effectiveness. The magic of NCW is the emergence of self-synchronising behaviour.4 Ultimately, the most important contribution that network-centric approaches to C2 will make is increasing force or enterprise agility. This is because the mission challenges of the 21st century place a premium on being agile. Like many of our coalition partners, DoD has invested in building a robust, secure, ubiquitous infostructure and, as a result, the coming years will see greatly increased connectivity, quality of service, and interoperability. DoD has adopted Power to the Edge principles. The early manifestation of these has been in DoD’s Data Strategy to facilitate and encourage widespread information sharing and collaboration. These steps will move us toward shared awareness, but they are not sufficient to help us leverage shared awareness. To take this second step, we need to move from a networked infostructure to create a networked or Edge organisation. To accomplish this, we need to develop new approaches to Command and Control. These include the creation of robust socio-technical networks that rely upon human behaviours that are facilitated and supported by technical means. Therefore, new C2 Approaches are the fulcrum of an Information Age transformation of the DoD and understanding Command and Control is among the most important and urgent tasks we have on the critical path to transformation and the ability to meet 21st century mission challenges. ### Purpose The purpose of this book is to provide the conceptual foundation for the C2 research and experimentation necessary to develop and explore the new C2 Approaches needed for this transformation. In developing and presenting this foundation, we are unwaveringly focused on the future, not the past. While the foundation presented can be used to understand traditional approaches to C2, its value lies in its ability to help us understand new network-centric approaches. Our intended audience is very broad because, without a broad-based understanding of C2, progress is problematical. At the same time, we are also addressing issues crucial to the C2 community, from practitioners to theoreticians. ### Organisation of the Book This book begins with a short “Reader Orientation” intended to stress key issues that differentiate this work from previous thinking on the topic. We then turn to exploring what it means to “understand” something, varying degrees of understanding, and the implications of understanding to different degrees. This also includes a discussion of models, with a focus on what a conceptual reference model—the instantiation of a model— is and the differences between a value view and a process view. This is followed by an introduction to the concepts of Command and Control, starting with why Command and Control is needed and the functions that need to be accomplished to achieve its purposes. The discussion of C2 then moves to the nature of the C2 Approach space, a space that contains the full range of options available to us for accomplishing the functions of command and the functions of control. There is a set of functions, like inspiration, that is often associated with Command and Control because it is a property of commanders, not a property of a C2 Approach. Furthermore, many if not all of the functions that we associate with Command and Control need to be performed by an individual or group—they instead may be emergent properties that arise within an organisation. At this point, we turn our attention to presenting a C2 Conceptual Model. An overview of this model is followed by in depth treatments of the C2 Approach, the C2 value chain, C2 process views with examples, and influences that affect the values of key C2-related variables and the relationships among them. The concluding discussion identifies the critical path to developing a better understanding of Command and Control.